I've got several black and a couple of red pines I have been learning how to
keep alive in our Dallas, Texas heat. They've been happy and healthy for a
couple of seasons and now I'm ready to begin the long process of reducing
them down to bonsai size. I've not successfully done this before and I am
not working with a sensei. All I have are my books, magazines and friends
on the IBC.

Based on my understanding of what I've read, an autumn decandling of a
healthy tree will encourage backbudding on old wood, which will make
possible a more compact or shorter tree. As new growth emerges from the
buds over a series of years, older, more leggy growth can be pruned away.

My problem is this: all my references say to do this decandling in October,
and only to remove those candles longer than 1". It all sounds so simple,
but my pines' candles are still growing, and have been since coming out of
summer dormancy. So... do I start decandling now and continue decandling as
each grows to 1"? Or do I wait until all growth stops and then decandle
them all at once?

Or, am I misunderstanding what I'm supposed to be doing?

Tim Ahlen,
Zone 8, Dallas TX


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